Mr. Speaker, we see the tension over there because Elections Canada has come forward now with a document that says there was a forged invoice, a trail of backdated cheques and a bogus cover-up that it says was intentional.

We are talking about a deliberate attempt to break the law in order to win an election. This is way beyond the member for Peterborough. This goes to the Prime Minister.

When will the Prime Minister make the member step aside until the investigation is complete?

Pierre PoilievreConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, in fact Elections Canada did not reach out and contact the parliamentary secretary. It was the reverse. The parliamentary secretary contacted Elections Canada and said, “Please come forward with any questions you might have about my filing which I gave you almost four years ago, which was audited, verified and accepted.”

Elections Canada responded that it is not interested in meeting with him at this time. He stands ready and available to answer the questions of Elections Canada, if those questions eventually, at some point, ever arrive.

Mr. Speaker, the member has to stop pretending that this is a case of The Art of War and spend more time studying All the President's Men. What we are dealing with here are allegations of fraud and forgery that have been raised by Elections Canada through court documents.

The affidavit indicates that the member for Peterborough acted in a manner that facilitated the concealing and the misrepresenting of the paper trail.

Will the Prime Minister do the right thing in saying that he actually takes these allegations seriously? Will he ask the member for Peterborough to step aside until this investigation is complete?

Pierre PoilievreConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, the member of Parliament submitted his election filings almost four years ago, and those filings were verified, audited and accepted by that agency. Since that time the agency has not contacted the member to ask any additional questions or raise any additional problems. At some point, he actually called Elections Canada to ask if they wanted to pose any questions or seek any additional information.

He is completely available. However, so far the agency has indicated it does not wish to do that.

Let us be clear: it is about the documents that he did not submit. The facts are that the member was responsible for filing forged documents; the member took steps to hide the truth about exceeding spending limits.

Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister stood in the House this week and repeatedly said he had voluntarily given everything to Elections Canada. We know this is not the case. It is bad enough that the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister knowingly exceeded the spending limits, but then the member thought he could roll back the odometer and fool Elections Canada.

Pierre PoilievreConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, a lot of people watching may not realize that parliamentary privilege protects this member, so he can say anything he wants without ever having to prove it. He can disparage the reputation of anybody and he never has to back up any of his allegations with facts. He has made some very clear ones. He has no evidence to back them up.

I would encourage him, if he has the integrity, if he has the courage, to take the exact statement that he just made, walk outside in front of the media and repeat those allegations. It is my bet that he will not do it.

Mr. Speaker, the official security unit in the Privy Council Office is very good at what they do. If someone close to the Prime Minister, like his parliamentary secretary, is in trouble, the office knows it. They investigate it and they tell the Prime Minister.

If there were a risk of election fraud, the Prime Minister would know, or if there were evidence of forged documents, the Prime Minister would know, yet, as he did with his friend Bruce Carson, he is wilfully blind, putting the integrity of his government in jeopardy.

Pierre PoilievreConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, these are the same kinds of false allegations that the Liberal Party threw around for an entire election campaign. The reason the allegations never went anywhere is that the party never had any evidence for the things they were saying. The Liberals spend all their time talking about things for which they have no evidence because they have no agenda for this country, no plan for this economy. They have nothing to offer the Canadian electorate and the Canadian public.

We on this side of the House of Commons are getting things done. That is why the Liberals are over there in the corner.

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives cheered yesterday as they raised the age for OAS from 65 to 67. However, Canadians are not cheering. They are concerned about this major cutback to their retirement security. They are furious that the Prime Minister broke his promise on pensions.

Why did the Conservatives cheer for a move that will unnecessarily hurt generations of Canadian seniors? Why were they not honest with Canadians in the last election?

Kellie LeitchConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and to the Minister of Labour

Mr. Speaker, I have to say that we were very pleased yesterday to see the passage of Bill C-38 so that we can move forward with our job creation and economic growth agenda.

With respect to OAS, I will repeat what I said earlier this week in the House. First, there will be no reductions in seniors' pensions.

I will also quote the OECD Secretary-General, who stated:

Bold action is required. Breaking down the barriers that stop older people from working beyond traditional retirement ages will be a necessity to ensure that our children and grand-children can enjoy an adequate pension at the end of their working life.

Mr. Speaker, there the Conservatives go again, cheering while Canadians are worrying about their retirement security.

Also buried in this Trojan Horse bill is the repeal of the Fair Wages and Hours of Labour Act. For nearly a century it has ensured that construction workers could make a decent day's pay for an honest day's work. However, the Conservatives are happy to scrap it.

Why were the Conservatives not honest with Canadians about their plans, and what do they have against hard-working Canadians?

Kellie LeitchConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and to the Minister of Labour

Mr. Speaker, I am mildly entertained by the question because it is the NDP who are against those hard-working Canadians, particularly in western Canada.

We are working and moving forward to make sure there are jobs created in this country so that Canadians have an opportunity to work, and that is what we want them to do.

With regard to fair wages, this change will eliminate red tape for small businesses. Apparently all construction workers in Canada, including workers with federal contracts, are protected by provincial and territorial employment standards.